Bruins Rumors and News: Boston Bruins (1) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (6) 2nd Round Preview

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Boston Bruins (1) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (6) 2nd Round Preview

The Eastern Conference's best team will take on the 6th seeded Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of the playoffs. The Hurricanes have a deep team than can role four lines, and an average defense that has some offensive minded players. The Bruins boast the East's best offense and defense. Carolina will try and continue their streak of upsets after beating the New Jersey Devils in a dramatic seven game series.

Records:

Boston....................53-19-10, 116 points

Carolina................45-39-7, 97 points

Boston Home.......29-6-6

Carolina Home....26-14-1

Boston Away........19-6-6

Boston vs Conf....44-13-7

Carolina vs Conf.37-22-5

Bos vs Car...........4-0-0

Car vs Bos...........0-4-0

Goals:

Boston Goals For.............274

Carolina Goals For..........239

Boston Goals Against......196

Carolina Goals Against...226

Boston Goal Diff.............+70

Carolina Goal Diff..........+13

Boston GPG.....................3.92

Carolina GPG..................2.88

Boston GAPG..................2.32

Carolina GAPG...............2.70

Bos Goals vs. Car............18

Car Goals vs. Bos............6

Special Teams:

Boston PP %.........23.6%

Carolina PP%.......18.7%

Boston PK%..........82.4%

Carolina PK%.......80.4%

Leading Scorers:

Boston Forwards:

Marc Savard.......25......63......88

David Krejci.......22......51.......73

Mark Recchi.......23......38.......61

Phil Kessel..........36......24......60

Michael Ryder...27.......26......53

Blake Wheeler...21.......24......45

Chuck Kobasew.21.......21......42

Milan Lucic........17.......24......41

Patrice Berg.........8......31.......39

Boston Defensemen:

Zdeno Chara...........17.....33.....50

Dennis Wideman..13.....37.....50

Carolina Forwards:

Ray Whitney...........24.......53.....77

Eric Staal.................40.......35.....75

Tuomo Ruutu..........26.......28....54

Rod Brind'Amour...16.......31.....51

Sergei Samsonov.....16......32....48

Matt Cullen..............22......21.....43

Erik Cole..................18.......24.....42

Carolina Defensemen:

Joe Corvo.............14........24.....38

Anton Babchuk...16.........19......35

Joni Pitkanen.......7..........26....33

Dennis Seid.........5..........25.....30

Goatending:

Boston:

Tim Thomas........36-11-7.......2.10........933%

Carolina:

Cam Ward...........39-23-5.....2.44........916%

Offense:

Boston had seven 20 goal scorers this season, and two more with 17. The Bruins have one of the most deep offensive teams in the league, and ranked first in goals in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins top guns may be young, but they passed their first test in the first round. When 20 goal scorer Blake Wheeler is on your 4th line, you know the team is deep. The Bruins are not just a finess sniping team, but a very physical team with guys like Milan Lucic and Shawn Thornton. Carolina also is a very deep team, 3 solid scoring lines. Ray Whitney has been a Bruin killer of the past few seasons, and top gun Eric Staal is always a threat. The 'Canes are not a very physical team, which could hurt them. Boston just has too much depth, and with Carolina coming off a 7 game series, fatigue could be an issue.

Edge: Boston

Defense:

The Bruins have the best defensive team in the NHL with Norris finalist Zdeno Chara. Dennis Wideman is one of the best puck movers in the game and the Bruins have a very solid transition game. Although they give up a lot of shots, they are from the outside and not very risky. The Hurricanes have an underrated defense, but it is very offensive minded. The Dmen jump up on the play a lot and 4 of their top 6 had 30+ points. Joe Corvo is a very good transition player and Anton Babchuk has a cannon for a shot. The Bruins play a much better team defense, and you can't not give the nod to the best defense in the league.

Edge: Boston

Goaltending:

Tim Thomas led the league in GAA and SV%. Although he has not played much in the playoffs, he played very good against Montreal, so the inexperience factor has to be thrown out the window a little. Cam Ward has a Cup under his belt, but he has played a lot of games so fatigue could be an issue. Ward has impressive numbers, but if Thomas plays the way he has, the advantage has to be for Thomas.

Edge: Boston

Prediction:

Boston in 6

8 Comments:

Anonymous said...: why is this post here?; 9:19 PM
James said...: matt instead of posting stuff already posted, why not update the side?; 9:41 AM
MC Puck said...: Who cares why the post is here; he wanted to put in his two cents lol.

That being said, I think he's right about everything except the depth of Carolina.

After the first line of Cole-Staal-Ruutu, the Bruins overmatch their other lines.

Whitney - Cullen - Larose? there's some scoring here, but when you get to the 3rd line of Brindamore, Samsonov and that other guy, they don't have a prayer. and our checking line will eat that 4th line alive. With the ability for our Defense to contribute on offense, I can't give Carolina much chance on Defense either.

This series MIGHT reach 5 games, but I think the Canadiens matched up better against us than the Hurricanes do (with the exception that Cam Ward would kick Pansey Price's ass at any sport, not including the homo olympics... Price wins the gold there.

Bruins in 4, they'll outscore the Hurricanes 15-7 :D; 11:39 AM
willisss said...: i found a video of sugarcane express

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idzeJU5_PQY

nice to see him going to games; 1:34 PM
Anonymous said...: hahahahahahahhahahahaha

price wins gold in the homo olympics.

funniest thing i've heard!

what's better than winning gold in the homo olympics?

not being a homo...; 1:55 PM
Anonymous said...: Oh and we'll smash the canes.

TSN:
The Bruins swept all four regular season encounters with the Canes, outscoring Carolina 18-6 in the process. Thomas dominated the goaltending duel, sporting a 1.33 goals against average with a .957 save percentage, while Ward posted a surprising 3.90 GAA with an .871 save percentage.

The Bruins also hold a distinct advantage in size and physical nature of play. Boston features two of the most physically imposing players in the game in captain Zdeno Chara and forward Milan Lucic. Both were able to impose their will on the Montreal Canadiens in the first round and expect to do the same against the undersized Canes.; 1:58 PM
da wreck said...: I am currently wearing my brand new ZDENO CHARA home jersey, that came in the mail today. I'm jacked. BRING ON THE HURRICANES.

I hope it's long enough to cover my boner.; 8:42 PM
Floppy_The_Wonder_Goalie said...: Ward is a better goaltender then me. He already won a cup and was challenged a lot against NJ. I wasn't tested against the weak Habs and i can't wait to cost a game or two to my team with the usual softy i allow for times to times. I can't believe Chiarelli gave that 20 millions contract since i'm can't bring the Bruins to the promise land. Too bad that Krecji and Kessel will have to leave because of my contract. Well, i'm gonna build a shed for the K's as a departure gift...; 9:28 AM

Transactions

Bought-out RW Patrick Eaves.

Signed D Derek Morris to a 1 year, 3.3 million dollar deal.

Placed RW Patrick Eaves on waivers.

Acquired RW Patrick Eaves and a 2010 4th round draft pick from the Carolina Hurricanes for D Aaron Ward.

Re-signed RW Mark Recchi to a 1 year, 1 million dollar deal.

Signed C Steve Begin to a 1 year, 850k dollar deal.

Re-signed D Johnny Boychuk to a 1 year deal.

Re-signed RW Byron Bitz to a 2 year, 1.35 million dollar deal.

Bought-out LW Peter Schaefer

Drafted RW Jordan Caron (1-25), D Ryan Button (3-86), LW Lane MacDermid (4-112), RW Tyler Randell (6-176), and C Ben Sexton (7-206).

Re-signed C David Krejci to a 3 year, 11.25 million dollar deal.

Re-signed G Tim Thomas to a 4 year, 20 million dollar deal.

Scoreboard

Previous Game

10/1/09 7:00pm		1	2	3	T
	Bruins	2	1	2	5
	Washington @	2	1	1	4

Current Game

10/3/09 7:00pm		1	2	3	T
	Bruins	-	-	-	-
	Carolina @	-	-	-	-

Next Game

10/8/09 7:00pm		1	2	3	T
	Bruins	-	-	-	-
	Anaheim @	-	-	-	-

Bruins Games

Bruins Salaries

	Player Name	Cap Hit	Yrs
1	Zdeno Chara	7,500,000	2
2	Marc Savard	5,000,000	1
2	Tim Thomas	5,000,000	4
3	Patrice Bergeron	4,750,000	2
4	Michael Ryder	4,000,000	2
5	Dennis Wideman	3,875,000	3
6	David Krejci*	3,750,000	3
7	Marco Sturm	3,500,000	2
8	Aaron Ward	2,500,000	1
9	Chuck Kobasew	2,333,333	2
10	A. Ference	1,400,000	1
BO	Glen Murray	1,383,333	1
11	Mark Stuart*	1,300,000	1
12	Mark Recchi	1,000,000	1
13	Blake Wheeler*	875,000	1
14	Milan Lucic*	850,000	1
14	Steve Begin	850,000	1
14	Tuukka Rask*	850,000	1
BO	Peter Schaefer	566,667	2
15	Byron Bitz*	687,000	2
16	Shawn Thornton	516,667	1
**	Phil Kessel*	RFA	1
**	Matt Hunwick*	RFA	1
--	-----------------------	---------------	---
--	TOTAL	52,487,500	-
--	Cap Space	4,312,500	-

* Indicates RFA
#Players on entry level deals have their base salary listed.
**Any corrections send an email to bruinsrumors@yahoo.com

Standings

	Northeast	Wins	Losses	OTL	Points
1	Buffalo	-	-	-	-
2	Ottawa	-	-	-	-
3	Montreal	-	-	-	-
4	Toronto	-	-	-	-
5	Boston	-	-	-	-

Bruins Scorers

	Player	G	A	P
1	Marc Savard	-	-	-
1	Marco Sturm	-	-	-
1	Blake Wheeler	-	-	-
1	Zdeno Chara	-	-	-
1	Chuck Kobasew	-	-	-
1	Phil Kessel	-	-	-
1	Matt Hunwick	-	-	-
1	Dennis Wideman	-	-	-
1	Patrice Bergeron	-	-	-
1	Derek Morris	-	-	-
1	Michael Ryder	-	-	-
1	Andrew Ference	-	-	-
1	David Krejci	-	-	-
1	Milan Lucic	-	-	-
1	Byron Bitz	-	-	-
1	Mark Stuart	-	-	-
1	Shawn Thornton	-	-	-
1	Steve Begin	-	-	-
1	Johnny Boychuk	-	-	-
1	Vladimir Sobotka	-	-	-

*No longer with the team.

Bruins Goaltending

Player	W	L	OTL	GAA	SV%
Thomas	-	-	-	-	-
Rask	-	-	-	-	-

Bruins Top 10 Prospects

1. Tuukka Rask (G)
2. Joe Colborne (C)
3. Brad Marchand (C)
4. Zach Hamill (C)
5. Kevin Regan (G)
6. Matt Hunwick (D)
7. Adam McQuaid (D)
8. Andrew Bodnarchuk (D)
9. Yuri Alexandrov (D)
10. Carl Soderberg (RW)

Hot and Cold

Hot

Matt's Pick
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Jha's Pick
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Pekese's Pick
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Walshie's Pick
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Cold

Matt's Pick
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Jha's Pick
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Pekese's Pick
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Walshie's Pick
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Previous Transactions

Acquired D Steve Montador from the Anaheim Ducks for C Petteri Nokelainen.

Acquired LW Mark Recchi and a 2010 2nd round draft pick from the Tampa Bay Lightning for D Matt Lashoff and RW Martins Karsums.

Acquired LW Ned Lukacevic and a 2009 4th round draft pick to the Philadelphia Flyers for D Andrew Alberts

Waived LW Peter Schaefer.

Placed C Nate Thompson on waivers, claimed by the New York Islanders.

Signed C Stephane Yelle (Calgary Flames) to a 1 year, 750k deal.

Bought-out RW Glen Murray.

Acquired C Martin St. Pierre from the Chicago Blackhawks for RW Pascal Pelletier.

Signed RW Michael Ryder (Montreal Canadiens) to a 3 year, 12 million dollar deal.

Re-signed D Dennis Wideman to a 4 year, 11.75 million dollar deal.

Re-signed C Petteri Nokelainen to a 2 year, 1.7 million dollar deal.

Re-signed D Mark Stuart to a 2 year, 2.6 million dollar deal.

Acquired D Johnny Boychuk from the Colorado Avalanche for C Matt Hendricks.

Signed RW Blake Wheeler (Phoenix Coyotes) to a 2 year entry level deal.

Drafted C Joe Colborne (1-16), C Maxime Sauve (2-47), G Michael Hutchinson (3-77), C Jamie Arniel (4-97), C Nicolas Tremblay (6-173), and C Mark Goggin (7-197).

Re-signed RW Chuck Kobasew to a 3 year, 7 millon dollar deal.

Re-signed D Aaron Ward to a 2 year, 5 million dollar deal.

Acquired LW Matt Marquardt from the Columbus Blue Jackets for D Jonathan Sigalet.

Acquired D Shane Hnidy and a 2008 6th round draft pick from the Anaheim Ducks for RW Brandon Bochenski and Anaheim relinquishes the right to swap 2008 4th round drafts picks from the Chistov trade.

Acquired G Alex Auld from the Phoenix Coyotes for RW Nate DiCasmirro and a 2009 5th round pick.

Signed C Glen Metropolit (St. Louis Blues) to a 1 year, 500k deal.

Acquired D Brett Skinner and D Nathan Saunders from the Anaheim Ducks for C Mark Mowers

Acquired C Carl Soderberg from the St. Louis Blues for G Hannu Toivonen

Acquired LW Peter Schaefer from the Ottawa Senators for RW Shean Donovan

Signed LW Shawn Thornton (Anaheim Ducks) to a 3 year, 1.550 million dollar contract.

Drafted C Zach Hamill (1-8), D Tommy Cross (2-35), D Denis Reul (5-130), D Alain Goulet (6-159), D Radim Ostricil (6-169), and RW Jordan Knackstedt (7-189). Acquired G Manny Fernandez from the Minnesota Wild for RW Petr Kalus and a 2009 4th round draft pick

Acquired D Adam McQuaid from the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 2007 5th round pick.

Acquired D Dennis Wideman from the St. Louis Blue for RW Brad Boyes.

Acquired D Aaron Ward from the New York Rangers for D Paul Mara.

Claimed G Joey MacDonald off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings.

Acquired RW Chuck Kobasew and D Andrew Ference for D Brad Stuart, C Wayne Primeau and a 2008 4th round draft pick.

Acquired RW Brandon Bochenski from the Chicago Blackhawks for C Kris Versteeg and a conditional 2008 5th round draft pick.

Acquired a 2008 4th round draft pick from the Washington Capitals for D Milan Jurcina.

Acquired a 2007 5th round draft pick from the St. Louis Blues for C Yan Stastny.

Acquired G Phillipe Sauve from the Phoenix Coyotes for C Tyler Redenbauch.

Acquired Future Cosiderations from the Pittsburgh Penguins for D/W Wade Brookbank.

Acquired LW Stanislav Chistov from the Anaheim Ducks for a 2007 3rd round draft pick and the right to swap 2008 4th round draft picks.

Declined the arbitration award to D David Tanabe.

Re-signed C Patrice Bergeron to a 5 year, 23.75 million dollar deal.

Re-signed RW Brad Boyes to a 2 year, 3 million dollar deal.

Signed D Zdeno Chara (Ottawa Senators) to a 5 year, 37.5 million dollar deal.

Signed C Marc Savard (Atlanta Thrashers) to a 4 year, 20 million dollar deal.

Signed RW Shean Donovan (Calgary Flames) to a 2 year, 1.85 million dollar deal.

Signed C Mark Mowers (Detroit Red Wings) to a 2 year, 925k dollar deal.

Signed D Jason York (Europe) to a 1 year deal.

Signed RW Jeff Hoggan (St. Louis Blues) to a 1 year deal.

Signed D Bobby Allen (New Jersey Devils) to a 1 year deal.

Bought-out RW Shawn McEachern.

Bought-out C Travis Green.

Acquired D Paul Mara and a 2007 or 2008 3rd round pick from the Phoenix Coyotes for D Nick Boynton and a 2007 4th round pick. Mara then signed a 2 year, 6 million dollar deal.

Acquired G Tuukka Rask from the Toronto Maple Leafs for G Andrew Raycroft.

Acquired RW Petr Tenkrat from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2006 7th round draft pick.
Drafted C Phil Kessel (1-5), D Yuri Alexandrov (2-37), LW Milan Lucic (2-50), RW Brad Marchand (3-71), D Andrew Bodnarchuk (5-128), and C Levi Nelson (6-158).

Wednesday, April 29, 2009